In this episode of Thrive Through the Fire, I’m talking about grief. Not just the kind we associate with death, but the quieter, often overlooked grief that comes with loss, change, unmet expectations, and the life we thought we would have.

This conversation was inspired by Session 4 of Megan Fate Marshman’s Bible study Relaxed, where she addresses grief and mistakes in a way that stopped me in my tracks. It helped me realize that grief shows up in far more places than we like to admit. It can be the loss of health, relationships, dreams, identity, seasons of life, or even versions of ourselves we assumed would always exist.

I share honestly about my own journey with grief after cancer and how I didn’t realize I needed to grieve the life I had before. The body I trusted. The sense of safety I carried. The predictability I assumed was guaranteed. I talk about how a friend gently helped me see that survival and gratitude do not cancel out the need to grieve, and how unacknowledged grief often shows up as exhaustion, frustration, or sadness we cannot quite explain.

We look at what Scripture says about grief and why the Bible never rushes people through it. From Jesus weeping at Lazarus’s tomb, to David’s raw honesty in the Psalms, to Peter’s restoration after deep regret, we see that grief and faith are not opposites. God meets us in loss, in mistakes, and in sorrow, not after we get over it, but right in the middle of it.

I also talk about common misconceptions around grief, why we try to rush healing, and how grief is not something to conquer but something to walk through with God. We look at Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane and what it teaches us about surrendering pain without denying it.

This episode offers practical encouragement for walking through grief in real life. I share simple, honest ways to acknowledge loss, stop comparing pain, bring your full emotions to God, avoid isolation, and allow grief to soften you rather than harden you.

If you are grieving something today, whether it feels big or small, I want you to know this. You are not weak. You are not failing God. Grief is not a lack of faith. It is evidence of love. And God is not asking you to hurry your healing. He is walking with you through it.

My prayer is that this episode helps you feel less alone, more understood, and more aware of God’s nearness in the middle of your grief.

Thank you for being here and for walking this journey with me on Thrive Through the Fire.